Plant of the Week: Witchgrass

Fall is in the air, and in theme with spooky season, this week's plant of the week is witchgrass (Panicum capillare).

At first glance you may find witchgrass unassuming. A hairy, one to three foot tall blueish-green grass. Come fall, this grass grows a broom-like plume of long wispy purple seeds. Some say it gets its name from its ability to magically disappear overnight. In truth, as the late fall winds blow, witchgrass' large plume of seeds detaches from the plant, becoming a tumbleweed - and flies cackling into the night. Okay, so maybe it doesn’t cackle – but you get the point! Other native tumblegrasses that exhibit similar seed-dispersal methods are purple love grass and fall witch grass.

Despite what some farmers and gardeners may tell you, witchgrass is no curse or hex. It loves to appear almost supernaturally in all sorts of places, from sidewalk cracks to well-manicured gardens, lawns and everywhere in between. This opportunist’s tendency to be summoned to disturbed soils of all types has caused it quite the reputation. Its good deeds seem to stay cloaked and go unseen, so let's illuminate some of its charms.

Witchgrass is a warm-season bunchgrass native to much of North America. Its seeds are a feast for feathered familiars of all sorts. Its stalks are larval hosts to butterflies. Its roots weave through the earth and prevent the soil from being spirited away. Witchgrass, though it may cause mischief, is an important part of our ecosystem.

We wish you the best this season of the witch!